’Tis the season to put aside our very tasty obsession with tacos, and move into the realm of tamales — which satisfies my battered soul so much better than just about any other holiday food.
Tamales exude fragrant steam, perfuming their space with the happy smell of masa, of meat, cheese, vegetables, fruit, herbs, chiles and so much more. The tamale is a tabula rasa — a blank page on which home chefs have long expressed their love of whatever flavors move them. Tamales bring joy; they’re Santa Claus in a corn husk.
They are traditionally served to honor the birth of a child. Tamales are a much-loved dish at wedding celebrations. A landmark birthday demands tamales to mark the occasion.
And, they’ve been around since the dawn of recorded time; there’s evidence of tamales dating back to 8,000 BC. The Olmecs and Toltecs used them to nourish their armies. The Aztecs and Mayans believed they were the food of the gods. The tamale wasn’t just a tasty dish, it was a sacred sacrament.
These days, it’s the dish of choice for many families at their Christmas feasts, which could easily be called a tamalada — a wonderfully poetic word that describes a family celebration built around tamales. This time of year, they’re not just eaten on Christmas Day, but more broadly from the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Dec. 12 to Epiphany on Jan. 6.
Tamales are made to travel; the indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica figured that out many millennia ago. And I’ve found they freeze perfectly; I use a dim sum steamer to revive them, a culinary conjunction made in kitchen heaven. And, of course, there are good — and often highly creative — tamales to be found at restaurants throughout town.
Many of the best tamales in the San Fernando Valley are found at casual stands: Tamales Mexicanos Dona Inez in Panorama City, Tamale Lady in Van Nuys, Tamales House and Josefinas in Reseda. Or, in very casual cafes like Magaly’s Tamales & Mexican Grill (134 N. Maclay Ave., San Fernando; 818-837-3524), where the menu proudly proclaims that the tamales are made with “NO LARD … NO MSG … GLUTEN FREE” for those who worry about such things when diving deep into the joy of tamales.
As for me, I just want flavor. And steam. I love the steam. At Magaly’s, there are eight types of tamales — beef in red sauce, pork in red or green sauce, chicken in green sauce, pineapple, ground beef and jalapeños, sweet corn, mixed vegetables, chile and cheese. You can get them chilled to go. Like I said above: Few foods come back to life after freezing better than tamales. If they could fuel an army, they can keep us going through holiday gridlock.
If you want your tamales in an affable setting, with a well-mixed margarita in hand, let me suggest beginning with the old school Valley destination Casa Vega (13301 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks; 818-788-4868, www.casavega.com), which — like Lawry’s, Musso & Frank, El Cholo and Philipe the Original — has achieved the status of local legend. It’s part of our culinary heritage, the thread that has run through life in Southern California for longer even than the freeways.
Sweet corn tamales are an essential part of the Casa Vega experience — a singular choice and always a good one. Returning to Casa Vega after many years is a bit like going to a high school reunion — sentimental and touching, but also leaving you to wonder how things have changed over the years.
I used to live walking distance from Casa Vega, back when the Tail o’ the Cock was just a few blocks to the east, across from the Sportsman’s Lodge. Those of us who enjoyed bending the elbow at the end of the day would bounce between the two places — to the Tail for its piano bar and martinis, and to the Casa for its world-class margaritas. It was a good thing I was able to walk home; driving would have been risky, at best.
I never went there without ordering the tamales. Over the years, the number of margaritas have grown (there are now 10 on the menu, including founder Ray Vegas’ original classic, an Organic and a Skinny). And, there’s a Mojito for those who prefer rum to tequila. But what hasn’t changed is the wonderful feel of the place — from the neon sign overhead to the red leather booths within, and the vintage photos on the walls.
And, of course, there’s the oft-mentioned low lighting — flattering to those with a wrinkle or two, though seeing your food isn’t always easy. But then, that’s how it was back then — and Casa Vega is very much a reminder of back then.
Of course, you don’t have to go to Mexican restaurants for tamales, for they’re found all over Latin America. At Ay Papa Que Rico (7250 Canoga Ave., Canoga Park, 818-564-4358; 7344 Van Nuys Blvd., Van Nuys, 818-988-8367; 14035 Van Nuys Blvd., Arleta, 818-302-6380; 8204 Sunland Blvd., Sun Valley, 818-962-3290; www.aypapaquerico.com), you’ll also find Cuban sandwiches, Mexican chicken, Colombian sausages and Argentinian empanadas.
Once through the door, you could be on a side street in Havana or Cusco or Oaxaca, in a room that’s filled with good smells, good sounds, good people and very good eats. Here also, the tamales are corn — corn so sweet, it works wonderfully as a dessert dish. It’s just one of the smells that perfume the air; you sniff, and you must eat.
Part of it belongs to the sheer mishmash oddity of the place — a counter here, a counter there, customers coming and going with large foil pans of food they’re taking home to chew on with friends while watching the game of the moment, a market filled with products from down there, and a bakery where pastries are cranked out that you know will be fabulous for breakfast — that is, if you don’t devour them in the car on the way home.
Mention Porto’s Bakery & Café (3614 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank, 818-846-9100; 315 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale, 818-956-5996; www.portosbakery.com), and tamales may not be the first food that comes to mind. That’s because Porto’s is a pastry paradise, a joyous destination for things sweet and sweeter.
But the menu is also a happy world of classic Cuban dishes, along with more modern California foods that have been added over the years. Thus, there’s a crunchy pre-tater tot ball of mashed spuds, filled with well-spiced ground beef, with a layer of bread crumbs that are fried to crispy perfection call them papas rellenas. Call the meat pies pastel de carne, unless they’re filled chorizo — then, they’re pastel de chorizo, of course.
The tamales are jammed with braised pork, melt-in-your-mouth meat so good you’ll be spoiled when it comes to future tamales of whatever ethnic bent. They almost wean me from my beloved sweet corn tamales. Almost.
Porto’s has grown in the nearly 75 years it’s been the go-to destination for those hungry for both a mango mousse cake, and for quick eats like their pastel de chorizo, their papas rellenas, and their guava flavored barbecue sauce pulled pork sandwich. To say nothing of their platos Cubanos of ropa vieja with white rice, black beans and sweet maduro plantains.
Since Porto’s is described as a bakery first, and a café second, there are probably many regulars who have never noticed that there’s a proper menu as well as those technicolor cases of pastries. Enter Porto’s on a busy day, and you’ll find an affable greeter at the door, who’ll direct you to the line that best fits your needs. The experience is more than a bit like a warm summer’s day at Disneyland. The staff is relentlessly cheerful. The colors are bright. The lines are long, but everyone is good mannered. And there’s much looking ahead at the cases to see the joys that await.
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Speaking of Cuban-style tamales, it’s worth putting down your garlic-infused chicken thigh at Versailles (17410 Ventura Blvd., Encino; 818-906-0756, www.versaillescuban.com) to bite into the superb tamales jammed with pork and onions, and doused with the garlic sauce, which I think of as the universal lubricant of Cuban cooking.
While you’re at it, begin your meal with a couple of empanadas — the beef is probably best, but the chicken or spinach will do. And I do love the papas rellenas — mashed spuds packed with meat, then breaded and deep-fried. When in doubt, deep-fry would seem to be a Cuban culinary mantra.
Of course, it actually takes an act of will, a serious bit of mental effort, to keep from ordering the “Famous Garlic Chicken” at Versailles. But then, the menu at Versailles is sizable, and appealing, a compendium of the tastiest dishes in the Cuban cookbook.
The tamales go perfectly with their chicken. I liked it so much that when Versailles started carrying bottles of their “All Natural Cholesterol Free Authentic Cuban Mojo Garlic Marinade Sauce for Chicken, Beef, Pork, Fish and Salad,” I made sure there’s always a supply in my fridge. You just never know when an emergency might hit.
And the Garlic Chicken is justly famous — both crispy and tender at the same time, doused with lots of sliced onions and sauce, served with surprisingly tasty white rice, black beans that have been cooked down to their essential elements, and plantains that are half starch and half dessert. But really, it all comes down to the chicken and the sauce.
Merrill Shindler is a Los Angeles-based freelance dining critic. Email mreats@aol.com.